The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application Nos. 2000-073439 filed on Mar. 16, 2000 and 2001-039475 filed on Feb. 16, 2001 in the Japanese Patent Office. The contents of those applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a deterioration indicator and a product having at least one resin mold member and a deterioration indicator therefor.
2. Discussion of the Background
Presently, most of industrial products on market, as a part or the whole, include a resin mold member regardless of whether such industrial products are a finished product or a part thereof. When a product has such a resin mold member finishes, for the sake effective use of resources, the product is often recycled. Generally, there are two types of recycling, one case where a used product is used again as it is, and the other case used where a product is disassembled and refurbished for the next use. In the first type of recycling, for example, a resin mold member of a used product is broken into pieces and a new product is produced by using the pieces as the material In the first type of recycling, a product is not broken into pieces, but instead cleaned according to necessity. Thus, the product can be used as a new product again. A used product may be also recycled as resources in some cases. For example, it may be recycled as fuel by burning and utilizing its heat.
Because of the simplicity of processing and the cost of recycling, the first type of recycling is more desirable. However, when a product has been exposed to a sunlight or a rain water etc. while being used or transported etc., the product deteriorates such that the mechanical property or the appearance etc. may be greatly deteriorated. In such a case, the first type of recycling cannot be realized, but instead the product must be recycled as material for producing the product or as a fuel source.
When a product is recycled, several processing methods described above exist. Therefore, to determine a suitable processing of recycling, the deteriorating state of a used product is considered properly.
However, it is difficult to visually determine to what degree a resin mold member has been deteriorated, and therefore it is difficult to instantly determine a suitable recycling processing for a used product.
Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 10-240081 discloses a method in which the number of times used with respect to an apparatus or a member of a product for recycling is recorded, and the record is used as data for determining a suitable recycling processing. However, according to that method, a structure of the product becomes complicated.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a deterioration indicator for a resin mold member in a product includes a deteriorating state checking portion configured to allow evaluation of a deterioration state of the resin mold member. The deteriorating state checking portion includes a material whose weather resistance value, xcex94E, is less than a weather resistance value, xcex94E, of the resin mold member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a deterioration indicator for a resin mold member in a product includes a deteriorating state checking device configured to allow evaluation of a deterioration of the resin mold member. The deteriorating state checking device includes a storing portion configured to permit water to enter and a capacity changing material provided in the storing portion and configured to change capacity when the capacity changing material absorbs water.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method of checking a deteriorating state of a resin member in a product includes providing a deteriorating state checking portion configured to allow an evaluation of a deteriorating state of the resin member, the deteriorating state checking portion including a material whose weather resistance value, xcex94E, is smaller than a weather resistance value, xcex94E, of the resin mold member, and evaluating the deteriorating state of the resin member by checking the deteriorating state checking portion.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method of checking a deteriorating state of a resin mold member in a product includes providing a deteriorating checking device including a capacity changing material configured to change capacity when the capacity changing material absorbs water, and checking the deteriorating state of the resin mold material by observing the deteriorating checking device.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method of recycling a product having a resin mold material includes providing a deteriorating state checking portion including a material whose weather resistance value, xcex94E, is smaller than a weather resistance value, xcex94E, of the resin mold material, checking a deteriorating state of the deteriorating state checking portion, and replacing the deteriorating state checking portion of the product with a new deteriorating state checking portion when the product is recycled.
According to yet still another aspect of the present invention, a method of recycling a product having a resin mold member includes providing a deteriorating checking device including a capacity changing material configured to change capacity when the capacity changing material absorbs water, checking a deteriorating state of the resin mold member by evaluating the deteriorating checking device, and replacing the capacity changing material with a new capacity changing material when the product is recycled.